


Manaea

by ChildOfSolace



Series: Mana [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Destiny, F/F, F/M, M/M, Magic, Mana - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-29 13:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19401166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChildOfSolace/pseuds/ChildOfSolace
Summary: Light cannot exist with darkness, the Tri-World guardian's fate would be reawakened in another chosen Individual as his enemies continue to reform in their darkness. In the continuity of the existence of light and darkness, it seemed as if Manaea was trapped in a loop of never ending fated war, never to experience complete peace.





	1. GUIDE

**Manaea:** The outcome world created by the merging of the three dimensions.  
**Celestia:** A divine sanctum believed to be the Afterlife for souls of those who did not succumb to the darkness.  
**Netherlands (slang [Nedda] ):** The counterpart of Celestia, where lost souls to the darkness are meant to wander, trying to find their way back to Manaea. If they do, they become demons, possessing animals therefore making those creatures untamable, waiting for their demise to be killed by hunters to have a chance of rebirth and Celestia.

 **Elementia, Animalia, and Persona:** Three Moons that orbited around these dimensions and kept the balance  
**Benders** – Humans that harness the forces of nature.  
**Whisperers** – Humans given special sensitivity with animals, enabling them to connect with them in a more intimate partnership than others.  
**Psychics** – Humans who are more in touch with their mental state and psyche.

 **Tri-World Guardian:** The destined hero to save the world from the beings of Darkness. **  
**The Dark Three: The first humans to completely succumb to the darkness, thus spreading chaos and destruction to the world. Their goal is to create their very own dystopian dimension and rule over it. **  
Shades:** Created by the dark three infusing dead corpses with demons, having them do their bidding.

 **Crossmatch Duel race:** a two-on-two duel, pairs made of a Bender and a Whisperer team up.  
**Post Harvest Festival:**  
**Rite of Passage:**

 **CHARACTERS**  
(*) Party characters

 **Dereck Weiszal, 32. Fire Bender**  
**Claud X Von Schiwtz, 58. Whisperer [Large, Illuminous falcon]**  
**Adelaide Von Schiwtz Weiszal, 28. Psychic.**  
***Paige Gaea, 16. Eclectic bender**  
***Phoebe Gaea, 17. Psychic**  
***Raymond Brooke, 18. Fire bender.**  
***Danny Gallé, 17. Wind bender.**  
***Jade Lunne, 18. Whisperer [Zee, crossbreed Cougar-Panther]**  
***Crystne Anders, 16. Whisperer [Nei, flying ferret]**  
**Ermis Odice, 60. Psychic.**  
**Drew Arqua, 17. Water bender.**  
**Noah Arqua, 19. Earth bender.**  
***Jonathan Conner, 17. Whisperer [Keyn, giant sapphire fox]**  
***Kinoh Hale, 17. Psychic**  
**Jonnel Lunne, 20. Whisperer [Kaede, hybrid Staglion]**  
**Lavinia Lunne, 45. Water bender.**  
**Mirquis Lunne, 50. Earth bender.**  
**Layla Norman, 16. Whisperer [Ladi, rainbow falcon]**  
***Maximus Conner, 18. Fire bender.**  
***Jed Cook, 18. Earth bender.**  
**Hazel Meyers, 18. Psychic.**  
**Sabelle Hart, 18. Psychic.**  
**Raia Springs, 12. Whisperer [Ming, Aquatic mouse]**  
**Keith Coleman, 14. Water bender.**  
**Tobias Rae, 16. Wind bender.**  
**Carmen Rae, 16. Psychic.**

**SETTINGS**

**Salen and Gadhanal:** The countries the existed since the beginning of Manaea. Through history, the growing population of human beings spreaded out to different parts of the world, discovering new lands, and making their own countries, resources, and livelihood.

 **Luft Blume Village:** Hometown of Paige Gaea and her sister, Phoebe Gaea and their friends.  
**Cobalt Lake:** The largest lake in Salen, located near Luft Blume, where the village usually holds their festive events in.  
**Nardine Woods:** The forest surrounding cobalt lake.  
  
**Auroe Town:** A town near Luft Blume, a port town.  
**Ulse Woods:** The woodland near Auroe town.

 **Viride Woods:** The forest near Cheagle town, Keyn's birth place. **  
Cheagle Town:** The hometown of Jonathan and Maximus. An organized town, based on elemental forte.


	2. Prologue

Manaea was once divided into three dimension portals of Celestia, with human beings that inhabit it possessing special abilities. These abilities were bestowed to them by the Three Moons that orbited around these dimensions kept the balance, these Moons were Elementia, Animalia, and Persona. In each dimension, the humans were gifted to harness the forces of natures, have special ties with animals, or have extraordinary mental capacity.

They were either benders, whisperers, or Psychics respectively.

But then, humans who succumbed to the power given to them were driven to darkness, thus, causing madness and chaos. To save Manaea from further destruction, the Moons granted special partial share of their powers to a destined being to save the dimensions from oblivion.

These Power Cores were bestowed to a being deemed as the Tri-World guardian. Combining the dimensions, thus creating the World of Manaea, to strengthen his powers and annihilate the Dark beings. After defeating the darkness, the three dimensions, now Manaea, were at peace. In his attempt to disperse the darkness, the Tri-World guardian faded from existence. As such was his fate.

Still, just as Light cannot exist with darkness, the Tri-World guardian's fate would be reawakened in another chosen Individual as his enemies continue to reform in their darkness. In the continuity of the existence of light and darkness, it seemed as if Manaea was trapped in a loop of never ending fated war, never to experience complete peace.


	3. A Small Town

Salen, one of the two countries that existed since the beginning of Manaea. The other one, being Gadhanal. Each land ruled under monarchy, the land of Salen under Kingdom of King Dereck, still in the Prime of his Reign, as opposed to King Claud X four decades reign at Gadhanal. Despite that, the two ruling monarchs attempt to continue their friendly relations with one another, since the former Prince had wedded Princess Adelaide Von Schiwtz of Gadhanal, present day Queen Adelaide of Salen.

They had hoped that, with the union of the young Royals, the long term feud between the countries would end. But it only stirred a portion of the masses, causing a rebel army in both countries, breaking into their own Civil war. In Gadhanal's end, their rebel forces refused to accept that their beloved Princess has been in Matrimony Union with the Royal Heir to Salen. Likewise, the Salenan rebel forces are disgusted that their Queen is one of Gadhan blood, Princess or not.

Salen suffers more from their rebel forces than Gadhan does since both the King and Queen rules and reside in Salen. But the Royal army remains in stand by since, by law, they are not to be deployed unless it is to counter an invasion from other opposing countries. To defend the capital and ebbed the spread of spiteful warfare, King Dereck founded the Prestige _Prodigy Zeals Academy_ , training recruits to become Soldiers, to be deployed to take care of Rebel scrimmages.

This is what a number of present day youths wishes to become, majority of them being victims of loss. War is not without casualties, that is certain.

For instance, there are three young men in the humble village of Luft Blume. One of them is Raymond Brooke, a watchman of the Quaint village aspires to become a soldier, training day in and day out along with his childhood friends, Jade Lunne and Danny Gallé. Like many youths of their time, they wish to offer their services. For the time being, they serve as town watchmen, guarding the town borders from wild animal attacks and, occasionally, Rebel intrusions. They've been dreaming about going to the Academy since they've been through their rite of passage, but close ties with their village makes them hesitant about leaving.

Or, more to the point, one of them faces this dilemma more than the others.

~●~

"You're bringing him cookies again?" A black haired girl said, her voice flat.

Her hair was fairly short, just above her shoulders, except for the long strands tied in a side ponytail that flowed right down, just short off her waistline. She wore a brownish tunic, with navy blue under-tunic beneath it to protect her nearly non-existent bust. Her navy, blue trousers were tucked into leather boots that used to be worn by her mother.

"No, I'm making them for him, Jade and Danny." The older sister between the two shot back. "You know I always make them snacks and refreshments when it's their sentry post at the watch tower."

Contrary to her sister, the girl baking cookies had a more well-managed hair, a smooth-skinned face, albeit slightly powdered from the flour she used for baking. Usually, she had her hair down where it would flow right along here back, with a single small ponytail at the back. Right now, she had it up and tied it a bun, but that didn't stop loose strands from getting into her face.

Paige and Phoebe Gaea, orphaned sisters when their parents were slain during the monster attack years ago, before their rite of passage. At the time, Raymond had been staying with them when his parents went to visit another town on that day. If it weren't for the sacrifice of the Gaea parents, he might've been slain along with them. One could say that they were close.

Paige swiped a cookie, "Yeeeeah, and the fact that they're heart-shaped and the chocolate chip kind, which are Brooke's favorite, has no meaning at all." She took a bite. "'m not shuped, shis."

"Who doesn't like Chocolate chip?!"

"Just saying, you could occasionally make buttered cookies since Dan likes the mild taste better, and you know Jade, he much prefers fried potatoes or barbecue."

"The... town is on a low supply for potatoes because the crops were damaged with the wolf pack attack during harvest."

"We got ingredients for butter cookies."

"I..."

"Fee, lighten up! I'm just teasing," Paige lifted the basket and handed it over, securing the lid on the pitcher better. "I mean, it's not like you have to hide it from me. Unlike Ray, I'm not oblivious to your feelings."

Phoebe blushed, opening her mouth to say something.

"Ah, scratch that, unlike Ray, I'm not ignoring your feelings as if it's not there and therefore not ignoring that I have feelings for you so we could just foolishly dance around each other."

Phoebe's blush fades, rolling her eyes.

"Seriously sis, the thing about guys being the ones to make the first move is so traditional, you know? Besides, you like him, he likes you," she went on, ignoring her older sister's mutter of he doesn't, "and as much as I rather have a less overbearing brother in law, you two should just stop kidding around and go for it. Who cares if you're the one who confesses first? I mean, as long as you get together, then everyone's happy. Well... I'd be mildly happy, but that's besides the point."

"And the fact that you and the boys are gambling who cracks first has nothing to do with you wanting me to confess first?"

"Mhm, it's not a gamble among friends, more like a monetary investment."

Phoebe crossed her arms, "Yeah? Well, if I do help your investment, would you talk about some other mythical being for once or, at least, talk less about the current mythical being you relentlessly go on about?"

"Hey!" Paige looked indignant. "The Tri-World guardian is not a myth! How do you think Manaea was created?"

Phoebe smirked, pleased that subject was changed. "Uh, I don't know, by that black hole that warped three dimensions together along with the Great Moons, creating a galactic explosion therefore merging the dimensions to form our world?"

"No! Well, yes, but that's not the whole story! The black hole was caused by..."

She was interrupted by a flying ferret circling the both of them, before returning to the stairway, waiting for her master to reach the first floor. "Sorry I took a while," Crystne came down from the steps, heading to Paige. "Come on Paige, I'm ready to go to the library."

Phoebe placed a hand on her shoulder. "Crystne, please try to get her to borrow a book with a different genre this time." She quipped.

"Why?" Crystne cocked her head to the side. "I actually find it interesting, I'd read about it too, but since I want to read other books, it helps that Paige tells me about it instead."

Phoebe smacked her forehead as Paige grinned smugly.

~●~

At the outskirts of town, right by the watch tower and town gates, three young Salenan youths are posted. They remained in their post, but it was now their break. In the middle, two were engaging in a friendly duel. They were donned in a standard attire; short sleeved tunic with loose trousers and buckled boots.

But the one riding on a creature of sorts had a band tied around his left forearm, his hair Quiff back, with the long sides combed back. For practice, he used a wooden staff with a blunt, pointed blade at both ends. His animal companion, clad in light-weight armor for training purposes. His name was Jade, the town's second best Male Whisperer, with his older brother, Jonnel, taking first.

His sparring partner, on the contrary, was the town's best male bender, the aforementioned Raymond, simply called Ray among the townsfolk. He was a fire bender, and his weapon for practice was a Gladius. Just like Jade's weapon, though, the edges were blunt to avoid fatal harm. His hair was more unkempt, some strands slightly scorched from an earlier duel, so he held it back with a brown bandana so it wouldn't be too obvious. Additional to the tunic and trousers, he also wore a collared, red cloaked tied together with leather straps, although for the moment there were undone. It was fire proof, so he didn't have to worry about it getting scorched or burned whenever he fought. It had been a Rite of passage gift from his father.

Though, in the current sparring session, they also agreed that he wouldn't use his flames for offense but defense only, the same way that Jade promised not to use his pet for offense, but support.

With one flip, Ray dodged the blow Jade was about to land on his left torso.

"And that's another win," Ray smirked, sheathing his Gladius. "looks like I get more cookies."

"No! It's not over yet!"

Danny, a Water bender and Jade's _best-friend-but-sometimes-nanny,_ looked exasperated. He lost to Ray earlier, so he merely observed the match. In their duel, they actually did use their elemental adept. It was nearly a draw, because his gale skills were one of the best in town. But since he was a little on the mild side, it was no surprised Ray still bested him. Unlike his friends, he wore an open-necked, loose-fit shirt with rolled up sleeves, a white scarf over his shoulders, and his arms were bandaged for protection. His shirt was half-tucked into fitted-leather slacks, and he wore leather boots as footwear.

"Dude, the winner is already decided."

"No, it's not!"

"Yes it is, damn it. It was best of five, and it's Ray's tenth win while you're still on your third." Danny said, showing where he kept a score on the wooden wall of their watch tower. "actually, I'm even tempted to take a point off for a certain someone being a sore loser."

"Yes! So that brings Ray's win down to a nine, right? Come on, I can still win!"

Danny threw himself back in exasperation. "Why am I friends with you?!"

"Because he can't live a day without you keeping him in check, that's why."

"I remembered making friends with you guys years ago, I don't recall signing up for a lifetime of babysitting."

"HEY!"

"Snack time!"

Ray immediately turned to the sound of her voice and smiled, "As usual, right on schedule," he rushed over.

Jade momentarily forgot the dig they were making on his expense and threw a look to Danny, who returned the same expression in kind. They both rolled their eyes knowingly. Jade dusted off his trousers, patted his pet, a crossbreed of a panther and cougar, which was brownish in color but his ears and paws were coated in black. He took the saddle off before rushing over to get his own cookies.

"Dan, go feed Zee some raw meat for me, will you?"

Danny shook his head, before doing as he was asked. Phoebe's cookies were probably the chocolate chip ones again, so he didn't mind eating less of it. "She could makes buttered cookies for a change, Zee. Not like Ray's gonna like her any less for making others' favorites once in a while."

Zee made a soft growl, not really understanding since he was Jade's pet not Danny's, and the latter being a bender after all. But since Danny does help in caring for him when his master was being too much of a goof to take Whisperer responsibilities seriously, Zee is able to comprehend simple emotions like irritation, excitement and the like.

"Hey, so who won this time?"

Danny answers as he joins the small gathering, swiping two cookies from the basket, probably the only ones he'll be getting. "If by this time you mean for the third week in the row and still counting then Ray."

"Hey, you don't have to rub it in, Dan."

"And you don't have to ask me to feed Zee when you can pretty much do it yourself, but yet, you still do."

"Ugh."

"So Brooke takes a win again, whoopee-do, but still takes the consolation cookies prizes instead of an actual one."

Ray scowled at the younger Gaea. "Don't you have somewhere else to be, squirt?"

"So many places, yes, like searching for the Guardian, but since Crystne's parents won't give me permission to go off on my own yet—"

"You're sixteen."

"Details," Paige shrugged it off. "But yeah, you're right, I do have a place to be. We're going to Sir Ermis' place, but thought I'd stop by to say hi and annoy Ray first."

"Yeah, nice to know you got your priorities straight," The flame bender eye rolls, "now go, you might not find your precious, mythical, destined hero there, but at least you'll be reading about him, which is probably as good as it's going to get."

"For the last time, the Tri-World guardian is not myth!"

"The more you say that is not gonna make him any real, squirt."

"And the more you practice making those fireballs of yours is not gonna make you any step closer to being a Zeal if you just wait in town like a sitting duck."

"The town needs protection!"

"And people have ambitions that they don't seem too eager to pursue, it seems."

"Hey, so, uh, how about those cookies huh?" Danny interjected, waving one in front of Ray's face. The flame bender swiped it, burning it to a crisp to release his temper without harming the smaller girl, before handing it back to Danny's hand. "Er, thanks..."

"Well done."

"No, Jade. Just... no."

Phoebe sighed as Crystne threw tiny strawberries towards Nei, her flying ferret. "With friends like these, who needs enemies...."

"There's a fine line between that, and they keep crossing it though." Danny deadpanned.

Jade shrugged, getting more cookies. "Whatever, it's snack time."

~●~

Paige and Crystne finally headed over to the local library after she finally decided she bickered with Ray enough. It was easy to get her mood back up, Crystne just has to ask more about the guardian and her friend would yammer on in an excited frenzy. The others wished the glasses wearing brunette wouldn't humor her too much, because they were really getting sick and tired of hearing about the same destined hero over and over again, but they figured it didn't hurt that she had one person backing her up.

It wasn't that Crystne believed in the guardian herself as well, but she didn't really have any firm opinion of the matter. It didn't hurt to indulge on it, fantasy or not.

Of course, Ray did firmly believe in taking action yourself than just waiting for some hero or another to come along and do it. He was just waiting for that right moment.

"Oh! And there's this one anecdotal record I read that the Guardian's Whisperer ability extends to even wild, non-tamable types! He'd be able to take care of those wild wolves that ruined our harvest, or even that stupid, oversized non-tamable bear roaming around our forest for years!"

"Yeah, that would be convenient, wouldn't it?"

Finally, they entered the Old library, finding a fairly erect elderly with long, graying hair tied in a ponytail, sweeping the floor.

"Good afternoon Sir Ermis!"

The aforementioned man raised his head and offered a kind smile. "Ah, well, if it isn't my favorite daydreamers. How can I help you today?"

"Do you have any new books?"

Ermis appeared to think about it. "I believe Noah did receive a few deliveries this morning, but they're still unpacked and it's his break. Maybe you can read a few old personal favorites till I have them unpacked and archived?"

"Sure, I still need to finish that one I have before returning it anyway."

Ermis nodded, smiling knowingly. "So, what did you find out about the Guardian this time?"

Paige grinned and told Ermis about what she just told Crystne, and a few other additional that she haven't gotten a chance to mention. By this point, Crystne was already alternating keeping Nei in check and looking through the shelves.

"... and there are signs to pinpoint the hero, like, according to what was their primary core before their potential was awakened. If the guardian's primary core had been the Elementia core, then he would be able to harness all elements. And not limited to how I do it either, as in, he can actually conjure up his own! If they were a Whisperer at first, then they can tame Non-tamable beasts as well AND even transmogrify into one and take on that creature's capabilities, like becoming an Eagle and having its eyesight advantage. And if he possessed a Persona Core from the start, then..."

"... His psyche's mental capacity would enable him to do every single psychic skill possible with mastery, whereas a regular psyche would only be able to learn all a psychic skills but with limited areas of expertise, I'm aware, I attempted the feat myself." Ermis smirked. "I don't just own these books, I read them too, you know."

"Right. Sorry, got a little excited, didn't I?"

"No need to apologize. I'm always happy to see a youth in a passionate frenzy." Ermis assured. "But why such interest with a debatable truth? It seems to be far from curiosity."

Paige actually paused to think of the question for once, probably because it didn't sound like a question to her sanity and more like an honest query. "I'm not really sure myself. I mean, I always did love epic stories I suppose. But... well, I just seem drawn to this idea, that there is a destined hero out there, waiting to awaken to his potential, when we need him the most. I mean, Celestia knows, this damned war should be put into an end—" Ermis looked at her crossly. "Er, sorry for swearing... well, I have this feeling in my gut that... I'm supposed to believe in him. I mean, if everyone else is going to forget about all the great things a generation of Guardians have done to keep Manaea in balance, then I'm not going to be everyone."

"Ah, I wish I had your spirit back in my youth." Ermis sighed nostalgically, "It would've saved so many people from grief."

"Or be the cause of it," Paige rolled her eyes, "my friends don't exactly hide the fact that they find me overbearing when I go on about it."

Crystne came back with a thick book in her arms, "I don't think you're overbearing."

"That makes one of you, but thanks."

"Well, I'm not sure if any of the new books contains something about the Guardian. It's a rare idea to write about these days or even in recent years. It is a tale older than myself." Ermis pointed out. "But you might find some in storage. I haven't gotten to renovate much, so there's not a lot of space in the library hall. But I keep books people don't usually borrow over there in case scholars or such come for specific references, so you could check for Tri-World Guardian related ones there."

"For real?! That'd be awesome, thanks!"

~●~

For once, Ray had mercy on Jade and gave him the Oranges that Phoebe brought, as long as they leave most cookies for him. Ray didn't really have a sweet tooth, he actually prefers spicy food more, but he made exceptions for Phoebe's chocolate chip cookies, since they had just the right amount of sweetness.

"Ah Zee! I already told you, they're fruits! Stop stealing from m—" Jade trailed off as Zee gagged in reflex and spat out the now crushed oranges he swiped from his master's plate. "And you're just gonna spit them out?! Really?! Rude! The one time Ray actually lets me have more food than him!"

Phoebe shook her head, "Are you really a Whisperer, Jade? You can't even get Zee to listen to you about food."

"Hey! Zee's a good listener, and when we fought those wolves last month, he executed my commands flawlessly!" Jade said defensively. "I just can't seemed to get him to listen when it's about food."

Danny took a piece of Orange from Jade's pile. "Yeah, well, he gets it from you, since you don't listen to me either when it comes to food, like when we had the annual duel at Cobalt lake last year and I told you not to eat a lot before we go in the waters," he shook his head. "I almost had to throw the match because you could've gotten Appendicitis."

"I said I was sorry, don't worry, I'll make it up to you tomorrow. I promise not to eat more than what you tell me I could."

Ray finally finished the cookies, and Phoebe poured him some juice. "That's nice, but if you forgot, you guys did win last year, so you'll both be doing the ceremonial torch lighting instead. Paige and Crystne are the ones we're rooting for tomorrow."

"Oh yeah... wait, then why aren't they training for it?!"

Ray narrowed his eyes, "Don't you remember anything? It's only cause Drew kept stalking Paige to participate, so she gave in just to make the girl shut up. But she's not best female bender town for nothing," he shrugged. "If you ask me, it's not much of a competition either, so Drew should stop thinking about stealing the title from her, and focus more on actually training if she really wants to best her."

"Woo~" Danny whistled, "so you could actually compliment her, so why don't you do that when she's around so the bickering can be less frequent?"

Ray scoffed. "It's not a compliment, it's just stating facts. If anything, I'm more worried about Crystne."

"Well, Paige wouldn't have gotten her to as a partner if she thought it was dangerous. Drew's partner isn't as aggressive as her either." Danny said as Zee tried to steal his Oranges too, apparently forgetting what just happened earlier, but the wind bender held his hand up. "No, Zee, not for you."

Zee stands down.

"What the hell, why did he listen to you?!"

"Because you keep telling me to be the one to feed him," Danny deadpanned. "and I had to teach him hand signals to wait and when he's allowed to eat since the first time, he ended up eating our entire supply of meat, your mom threw a fit, remember?"

Phoebe and Ray laughed at Jade's flustered cheeks.

"If Paige was here, she'd take Danny's way with Zee, despite being a bender, as an indication of him being the Guardian."

Ray groaned, "Ugh, if I have to hear her talk about that myth one more time..."

"You guys used to enjoy playing that game back then, though. It is a Childhood classic. Remember when the village had us kids perform a play for the Post Harvest festival after our rite of Passage? You and Jade fought over who got to be the Guardian while Paige would roll her eyes at your antics?" Phoebe chuckled. "Funny how the tables have turned."

"Ugh. She's a little too late getting in to it," Ray shook his head, "this is why I like you better, you're more reasonable."

Phoebe tries to ignore that her cheeks were warming, "Ah yes, because a reasonable, boring, psychic is better than a versatile, all-around bender." She quipped.

"Hey, you're anything but boring. Things are better with you around, after all."

"Ray..."

"Ray!"

"Ow!"

"I missed you!"

"Drew..."

Danny and Jade exchanged looks, shaking their heads. "One peaceful day with you guys, or just one quiet moment, is it too much to ask?"

"If you want quiet, there's the library."

"Paige is usually there."

"Point taken. Well, time to save a buddy."

Danny narrowed his eyes. "I thought you get a kick out of seeing Ray in situations like this."

"I do, but I get a kick out of getting free dinner more." Jade whistled for Zee, who immediately rushes to his side. He pointed to Drew and the crossbreed rushed towards Ray and Drew. The blond earth bender shrieked, deftly afraid of feline-related creatures, so she rushed off.

Ray sighed in relief. "Thanks man."

"Don't thank me, feed me."

"For once, couldn't you do something for me out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Nope, best friends don't work that way."

" _You_ don't work that way,"

Phoebe shook her head, going over to Danny, "Well, that moment was ruined."

"You wouldn't have to worry about the lack of these _moments_ if you just went on and confess already." Phoebe widened her eyes at Danny, "what, is it that much a secret? Well, you should try being more... well, secretive."

Phoebe smiled coyly. "I never took you for one who gets into others personal business. Anyway, isn't your money on Ray?"

"First off, I don't condone gambling and to set the records straight, the bet is between Jade and Paige," Danny pointed out. "Second, well, you guys have been dancing around each other since the rite. It was amusing at first, but now, it's just long overdue."

Phoebe sighed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, watching Ray and Jade bicker about free dinner. "It's just not that simple."

"Ah, the same cliché people use to avoid romantic confrontations."

Phoebe finally scowled at the Wind bender. "Get off my case, Dan." Danny made a mime gesture of zipper his mouth, raising his hands in surrender and walking off. The Psychic smacked her forehead. "Ugh, I give up."


	4. The Book

While Noah Arqua, Ermis's assistant, was shelving the new books, Paige continued to peruse through the Old archive section at storage with Crystne, but they split up to different aisles. At one point, she heard Crystne call out to her that she had to rush back home since there was another book she accidentally left at home but needed to be returned today. So Paige decided to wait for either her friend to come back, or for Noah to come and tell her that the new books were ready, whichever came first.

She ran her fingers along the line of books as she walked. When she was about to take another turn to another aisle, she stopped when she heard a solid ' _thud_.'

"Huh?"

She turned around and looked from side to side, seeing nothing, before slowly looking down. Spotting a large, thick book with silver clasps sealing it, triangular ornaments designed the corners.Curiously, she approached the book, flipping it back to front, before giving a startled gasp and her face broke into a wide grin.

"Awesome! Tri-World Guardian jackpot!"

At close examination, it had no title or author written on the cover or back. But it had the symbol of the Guardian embedded on the biggest clasp. But what was odd was the additional triangular formation. In all the references she read so far, the Guardian's symbol had always been just three colored orbs, within a large circle, representing that the guardian had the three major cores within him. It was the first time she saw a symbol where the large, holistic circle was removed, and the colored orbs were, instead, compacted together.

The colors seemed to glow as well, as it seemed the colors changed and flickered, to give off the image that the orbs were rotating.Whoever put much effort in writing this reference book must be passionate about the Guardian as well... and a psychic. Only psychics can pull off illusory magic like this, after all.

She tried opening the book, but realized the silver clasps served as a lock. Plus, there seemed to be an empty recess at the center, shaped like it could fit a small medicine vial.

 _Hmm, maybe it's the key?_ Paige thought, "I wonder if Sir Ermis knows how to open it..."

"You called?"

Paige jumped, startled. "Oh! Sir Ermis, I didn't hear you approaching."

"I'm pretty light on my feet, if I do say so myself. Now what's wrong? I heard you make a sound when I was brewing coffee."

Paige held up the book, "Yeah, well, it's this book. You don't suppose I can have a look into it?"

Ermis stared at the book for a good minute before looking baffled. "My word, I've been searching for that book for as long as I can remember. It has eluded me for years."

"Oh?" Paige blinked, staring at the book once more.

Ermis nodded, suddenly excited than the young Gaea had ever seen him to be. "Yes, yes I found it one time myself, back when my father still ran the library with me. I heard something drop, and when I turned back to look, there it was!" Paige thought that the likeness of the scenario was a little uncanny. "We were closing shop for the day though, so I merely returned it on the shelf. I did have a look at it, though. So later, when I found something, I thought it might be a piece of the book. I wanted to reattach the item, but when I looked again, it was gone. I asked my father about it, he told me there was no records of any book like that. Eventually, I forgot about it."

"Oh... So... That thing you found, was it the key?"

"I'm afraid I couldn't say," Ermis answered vaguely."but I feel that it's important that you found it again. Call it superstitious, but it must be fated."

"Uh-huh... So... Even if this is in the Old Archive section,could I still have it checked out? And is the borrowing period shorter?"

Ermis looked at the young girl, his face taking on a serene countenance. "Why don't you hold on to it?"

"What?!" Paige widened her eyes, hugging the book to her chest. "REALLY?!"

"Yes, I believe it will take a while for you to figure out how to even get it open." Ermis chuckled. "Just... do me a favor, and keep it secret."

"Okay, sure. But... why?"

"Bad for business, you see, if I let you hold on to it without proper processing. And I won't allow you to lie about it. It'll be just between us, and if I may request, if you do find out how to get it open, please come show me. I've been curious about what it contains for a while now, after all."

Paige chuckled. "Sure, I mean, officially, you do own it after all. But how do I even get it open?"

"Well, you're smart, and incredibly head strong at times."Ermis teased, ruffling her hair. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Noah came rushing in, "Hey Paige, sorry that took a while. If I knew you would be coming to check out books, I would've—Oh, Sir Ermis! You're here too."

"Looks like you've been working hard, more than usual. But I guess it's because she's here, so I'm not too surprised." Ermis smirked, while Paige just looked confused and Noah was flustered. "well, I believe you deserve another break. I was about to brew Paige some coffee, maybe you'd like to join her?"

Paige turned to Ermis, missing how Noah's cheeks turned redder at the offer. "Is that really okay? I wouldn't want to put you out."

"It's no trouble at all, just like I consider Noah as my son, I also view you as my daughter with how often you come over. Maybe even daughter-in-law if you and Noa—"

"Sir!"

"I'm only teasing, give this old man a chance to indulge in the pleasure of the little things," Ermis chuckled, resting his hand on Paige's shoulder.

Paige chuckled, "In your age, sir, we might as well be your grand children though."

"Now that was uncalled for." Ermis gave Paige a mock glare. "come now you two, have a seat in the main hall while I brew the coffee."

~●~

"So we'll start with the inspection of the fields that were damaged during the wolf attack before checking in the Inn, then we'll stay for the first day of the festival, out of respect. As small as the town is, they are great supporters of _Prodigy Zeals_ so we have to make sure they know the Academy appreciates it. Though we'll have to leave soon after, departure will be at nine o'clock at the evening." A young man clad in an Academy uniform stated. His long, sleek, jet-black hair was tied in a loose ponytail, and he wore a shabby, cord lace, but the intrinsic crystal adorning the charm dangling from it look valuable. He and his companion were riding a Whisperer carriage, on their way to Luft Blume village. "Sorry that we don't have time for sight seeing in this excursion, John. Hopefully, if we get back to port earlier than schedule, we'll have time to hit some stalls before our ship leaves."

His companion, a blond young man, with unkempt hair and similarly clothed in an Academy uniform, merely smiled back. He stroke the fur of his pet, a large, King Sapphire fox. "Kinoh, you got me out of the Academy, that's more than enough." he sighed, "Max will find out eventually, though, but at least I can get a taste of field work even for a short while."

"Yes, well, we'll cross the bridge when we get there. More importantly," Kinoh leaned forward, "You have been convincing Max to loosen up on you once in a while, right?"

John narrowed his eyes. "You _know_ I've been trying. He's just overprotective." He shook his head. "and he's got you roped into it as well! I'm just glad you're in my side with this."

Kinoh chuckled, but it seemed a little strained. "Yeah, well, you'll need it." He said, then deciding to change the topic, he looked over some papers. "I wonder if we'll be able to scout some new recruits, though. With the fresh graduates last term, we've lost some valuable figures. Of course, we can't get too many, maybe three at most, since this town is small enough as it is. We can't remove their defense force."

"As long as they're not the discriminating types, I don't mind who they are." John said firmly. "maybe if they're talented enough, they can replace Sabelle on the council."

Kinoh smiled dryly, "I know you're just saying that for my benefit, and while I appreciate it, I doubt it's gonna happen. Sabelle may be aggravating and judgemental, but she is good at what she does for the Council."

"I know that, but she's so—" John trailed off when their carriage was suddenly jostled roughly, and they heard the driver crying out. "What the Nedda! Woah!" The fox caught his master from face planting on the carriage floor, "thanks Keyn."

Kinoh looked out the window, "Looks like trouble, John. Get ready for combat!" He summoned some Mana on the tips of his fingers, before placing an solidified, illusory armor on Keyn. "the armor will hold for ten minutes, hopefully, that will be enough time."

John grabbed his large, bladed boomerang before jumping out of the moving carriage along with his friend.

~●~

Ray watched as Phoebe walked away from the look out tower. For a moment, she looked back and waved her hand up high. He smiled as he waved back before sighing to himself when she continued on her way. When he turned around, he came face to face with Zee.

"AH! What the, how did you—"

"He's from the feline family, Ray, getting up on high places is an innate skill," Jade dismounted from his pet, patting his head before Zee jumped back down easily. The Whisperer turned back to his friend, looking smug. "Sooo..."

Ray rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I owe you dinner."

"Not that, dude." Jade rolled his eyes, "Phoebe."

Ray glared at his friend, choosing his next words carefully, "What about her?"

"Don't play dumb," Jade scoffed, "Come on, I knew you guys for a long time, even before the Rite of Passage, for Celestia's sake!"

"And your point?"

"My _point_ is, there's a thin line between _friendly s_ and _friendlier_ and _more than friendlier_ , and you two have crossed that line way before Paige went to" he made is voice into a bad attempt of falsetto, "' _Oh, the guardian is real, my hero!_ ' phase."

Ray shuddered, suddenly imagining the girl saying that with some frilly, girly outfit which does not suit the tomboyish girl. "Dude, stop. Her voice isn't even that high. Don't make Paige out to be some girly, insanely love struck, fan girl. It's not good imagery."he shook his head. "It's worse than Drew hanging off me earlier."

"You know what's good imagery for you? Phoebe! And, you're in luck, she is insanely love struck... _with you_! Not so good luck though, since you guys keep walking on eggshells with it."

"Why are we even having this conversation?"

Jade shrugged flippantly, "Asides from the fact that Paige will owe me steak for a month," he started, "it's because it's about time something happened. I mean, if it weren't for Danny keeping tabs on me, I'd be a third wheel alone! At least now, we're both third wheels."

"Yes, just what I live for," Suddenly Danny's voice was heard, before the bender himself came flying up to join his friends. "to be your nanny and securing that you're not alone in _third wheel island_."

Jade gestured to Danny, "See? Like what Dan's saying, you should just tell her."

"That _is not_ what I was saying, Jade. It's what _you're_ saying." Danny snapped. "but yeah, still a fair point. What's holding you back? Fear of rejection?"

Ray bit his lip. "It's... much more complicated than that..."

Before either of them could make a response, Danny made a strangled noise, "Guys! Heads up, we have a situation!"

Jade and Ray followed the direction Danny was looking at, and saw that a carriage had tumbled off the road. The pack of wolves that had attacked their village recently were surrounding three individuals.

"It's go time, guys. Danny, rush ahead. Jade and I will get the gear, let's move! Now!"

Danny did as he was told and flew towards the gathering. He counted three men in total, and the one who seemed to be the driver was being defended by a large, King Sapphire fox! Danny was amazed, he knew they were a rare kind and could only be sited in Viride woods.

He shook his head, he needed to help them quick. But as Danny neared the area, he saw two young men clad in distinguished uniforms. To move freely, he saw that they had removed their navy blue, hooded cloak. Their outfit consisted of an open collar shirt, with a vest design. There were cloth arm bands, and an additional seal which suggests that they held a position on the Student Council. The sleeves were cuffed, the pants were tight-fit, neatly tucked into knee high boots. Braided laurels, on the belt, were wrapped low with a golden pendant hanging from it, which served as the Academy's seal of recognition.

"PRODIGY ZEALS!"

Danny jolted, his surprise breaking his concentration and his flight pattern got thrown off for a bit before he recovered. "Jade!"

"I know! Time to make a good impression, CHARGE ZEE!"

"So not what I meant!"

~●~

Kinoh made mana crystals come out from his hands, and launched them at the two wolves. They dodged it and growled, before lounging towards the psychic. He back flipped out of their immediate path, giving John the cue to throw his boomerang in a surprise attack, knocking them both off to the side, where Kinoh's crystals intercepted them. Injured, the two wolves whimpered and made a hasty retreat, leaving five more wolves left to take care of.

John raised his hand to retrieved the returning boomerang, when a wolf knocked it off course and it fell useless to the ground, its other companion growling at the Whisperer before charging towards him. But Keyn intercepted them, knocking one of them with his paw and growling menacingly at the other, protective of his master.

"Good boy Keyn!"

Kinoh took over guard duty, keeping the other two wolves off the driver and from damaging the carriage any further with a Mana force field. When one of the wolves realized the futility of the attempt, he growled and looked around, finding John's back unguarded. He lounged at him at full speed. Kinoh cried out in alarm.

"JOHN, BEHIND YOU!"

John looked back, but barely had time to counter, the wolf was quickly upon him and he was knocked to the ground. "AH!"

"No you don't!" A new voice cried out. At that moment, a ball of fire was hurled towards the wolf.

It was just enough to knock the wolf off John and focus on the incoming threat.

"Yeah, come and get some!" Jade bowled into the wolves.

The one attacking Kinoh's force field finally stopped to aid his pack. He stood up on Zee, when his pet pounced on the attacking wolf, he jumped off. With its tails caught between his mouth, Zee threw the wolf off towards Jade on the air where his master was ready to swing at it. The wolf crashed landed back to the ground before retreating.

"No one gets hurt on our watch!"

Ray ran over and helped John up, "Literally, our watch. Dan!"

"Gotcha!" Danny held out a hand and a bo-staff was tossed his way. The wolves closed in on him and he jumped to the air,slashing the staff causing it to summon a gust of air, pushing them back.

Once they were cleared from the vicinity, Ray fired several warning shots towards them and three of them took the hint,but the pack Alpha growled even fiercer, rushing towards Ray. The bender bit his lip, he didn't want to shoot and end up killing it,but blasting it with another fireball was even worse. That's when John's boomerang cut in, and knocked the wolf off course.

John stood in front of Ray, his hands up as if to placate the creature. " _Enough! Your pack has retreated, you should do the same and tend your wounds. The battle is won here._ "he commanded with a Whisperer's tone.

The pack Alpha glowered, but it lowered his head, as if in respect, before taking off.

"Woah," Danny blinked, "even your brother can't do that yet, Jade. Zeals are really in a whole other level."

Jade scoffed, but didn't respond. He silently agreed anyway. "Well, yeah, what do you expect when they must have topnotch training?"

"But that doesn't mean you should sell yourself short," Kinoh spoke, approaching the three, John right beside him. "your teamwork is unparalleled and organized, a bit rough on the edges but we all start somewhere. You have our thanks."

Danny and Jade turned to them as Ray joined the gathering, "Oh, well, just doing our duties, sirs—YOU'RE GOLD STARS! OH MY GOD!"

"What, they're—Damn, and you're part of the Council?! Guys, why didn't Chief Elo tell us about big shot guests coming into town today?! I would've bathe more thoroughly!"

Danny sighed, shaking his head, "Jade, you are seriously embarrassing right now..."

"Dude, you should bathe thoroughly everyday.... And he did tell us, we'd be having Zeal students come check the fields for inspection and observe the first day of the festival tomorrow. You were busy fighting Zee for the last piece of chicken this morning at breakfast." Ray pointed out. "But I have to say, I didn't think we'd be accepting two council members. It's an honor."

John smiled, raising his hand. "Please, we're just students. To be honest, it just means we have more workload than most of the student body. Actually, it's our honor seeing such combative skills displayed for our defense."

"John's right, in fact," Kinoh smirked, placing a hand over his chin, "I'm pretty sure the Academy needs more recruits like you three."

The three friends looked baffled, "S-sir, do you mean...?" Ray did his best to regain composure, he didn't want to get ahead of himself and jinx it, but his voice did sound a little choked when he asked to confirm. "—are you recruiting us?"

"Well, if it won't weaken your town's line of defense, and with your approval, we would like you three to come to the Academy as Scouted recruits." Kinoh smiled at them, "Of course, you would still have to go through the exams for your placement but you won't be at the risk of being sent home anymore. You can receive your Application papers from me later once we, ah, salvage our luggage from the carriage."

Jade hollered and cheered in happiness, going on about how his brother would be so jealous when he hears about this. Danny still remained composed, but sometimes, he wished he was as exuberant as Jade to express his excitement. Instead, he offered to help them check on their luggage and the driver. Ray smiled to himself, his heart beating fast that his dream to finally fight for his country as a Soldier would be realized.

"Wait till the girls hears about this! They'll be so hyped for us!"

And at that moment, Ray's excitement was shot down.

~●~

Once getting into town, the Chief offered John and Kinoh to stay in his estate instead of the more public Inn. He also lent them shabby cloaks. Not that their Academy cloaks were damaged during the wolf encounter, but the hardcore fans would be able to spot them on sight and they would like to avoid commotions until the festival, at least. Plus, Elo had a bigger yard and Keyn needed a place to frolic, too.

"This is the Anders family field," Elo stated,stopping at a household, gestured to the fence where open fields were displayed. "their crops were the first damaged during the attack before the towns watchmen came around, so there was not much they could harvest. They mostly grow potatoes and vegetable crops, so the stock is a little low until the next harvest so we called aid from other towns. Whisperers were put in to action to repel them. The seven wolves who ambushed you two were only a small unit. They're actually a much larger pack."

"Any idea what might have caused this?" John asked.

Elo shook his head, "Not a certain one, but I have speculations." he said. "Auroe has a forest there called Ulse, the name of this wolf species, and they came from there. You might've seen it when you docked in this morning?"

Kinoh nodded, "Yes, we inspected the town to check if they need any Academy assistance. The Mayor there requested for aid in restoring the forest."

"So you must know already that a good part of their woods were destroyed because of the rebels. So they retreated here, trying to find a new home. Up until now, Nardine woods was cleared from any other hostile creatures due to the Non-tamable bear we had roaming around for years there. Strangely, the bear doesn't come out of the forest to attack us here at town, but it does go berserk when intruders go passed the border it decided as its territory. In the earlier days when it first came, we had tried to get rid of it, but soon learned it'd be safer to leave it be."

John hummed in understanding, "And if the bear is that dangerous to, presumably armed humans, with their instincts, the Ulses must know that it's best for them as well to stay clear."

"Precisely. Since the wolves are omnivores, they attacked our fields. Luckily, nobody was harmed. But if this keep up, we might have trouble with noT just our harvests, but even sending townspeople anywhere near the woods to forage goods."

Kinoh frowned. "If the situation is that bad, is it not safer to cancel the festival?"

"Oh, Celestia, no. I couldn't," Elo shook his head fervently. "the festival is the biggest celebration our village's awaits every year. To cancel it would greatly affect the morale of the entire village. Besides, it's not our entire forest affected by the Non-tamable bear. It only stays at one area, really. If we could just fence in the bear at the area, and have the wolves relocated further away from both the village and the bear, I'm sure that everything would work out eventually."

Kinoh keeps a poker face, but he was concerned. He had an idea to explain away the intentions of the peculiar Non-tamable, and he didn't like what it implied. For now, he decided to take note of what Elo had told them to report it back to Max when they got back to the Academy.

"Are the Anders home?"

"I believe not, they went into Auroe for ingredients they'll be needing for the festivities tomorrow. They're one of the families in charge of putting up booths, you see. Like I said, our festival is a much awaited one, other people from nearby towns come to visit and take part. You came just in time, actually. Despite this being a call of duty, you two should enjoy what we have to offer."

John smiled, nodding. "Yes, that would be nice. But we'd also like to offer our apologies to the Anders family," he said. "if we did a better job in taking care of the rebel forces, maybe things wouldn't have led to this."

"It's not your fault, we know that the Academy does its best to fend off the land from the rebels, and as citizens of this country, I believe that instead of looking for people to blame, we should make the most of what we have to turn the situation around." Elo smiled politely. "I am honored to know that you have chosen three of our finest youths to join the Academy. Please utilize them to the best of their abilities to end this war once and for all."

Kinoh and John nodded, placing their hands together and bowing slightly to the man. "We want nothing more, Sir." The blond stated.

"Please, leave it to us."

~●~

At the Lunne family home, the family gathered around the dining table for Jade to inform them of the recent development. Zee and Kaede played-fight out near the fields of their backyard. Kaede was Jonnel's pet, a hybrid cross of a stallion and stag, a Staglion. Contrary to Zee, Kaede was a herbivore though.

"Well, since Danny's recruited along with you, then I don't see any problem with you going off to the Academy." Lavinia Lunne, Jade's mom, sighed in relief. "at the very least, things won't get too out of hand."

Jade narrowed his eyes, shaking his head. "I should've seen that coming," he shook his head. "well, the important thing is I got your consent."

"Yes, son, but no giving Danny much of a hard time, all right?" His father, Mirquis Lunne, spoke sternly. "and remember, you're also presenting our family name. Listen to Dan, and maybe you won't make much a fool of yourself."

Jade gaped, shaking his head. He tossed his arms to the air. "Hey, come on, I'm your actual son, don't you have a little more faith in me than that? Jeez guys."

"Well can you blame them?" Jonnel snickered, ruffling his brother's hair. "you do give Danny a run for his money."

Danny rolled his eyes, smirking. "You could help me control him a little, though, Jo. He's your brother."

"I know, but ever since we took you in, I relinquish my big brother obligations. You do a better job in it that I do, anyway." Jonnel said,laughing. "ever since, it's been easier getting dates."

Jade scowled. "You guys are impossible."

Lavinia and Mirquis burst into laughter, the mother of them embracing Jade and stroking his hair. "We're just teasing, son. We really are proud of you, and despite your impulsive tendencies, we believe you're capable of taking things seriously when things go rough." she assured, kissing his cheek. "We'll miss you, though."

"We will?"Jonnel jests. Mirquis threw him a look. The older Lunne son just laughed, "well, it will be quieter and a bit boring without him, but yeah, knock those rebel forces dead, bro."

Jade grinned, nodding and giving a thumbs up. "I'll make you proud Jo." He looked at Danny, "once we join the Zeals, those Rebel scums won't know what hit them!"

"Yes, well, I know who'll hit _you_ if you get too carried away." Danny shook his head, smiling slightly.

But his mind wandered back to Ray. He knew that getting permission from his father wouldn't be too hard. Leppard Brooke would probably even help him pack, and put in some final Swordsmanship training before their departure.

It's the reaction of the other person Ray has to tell that worries him, and the reaction of the headstrong _sister_ to that person's reaction is what he dreads above all else.

_I hope Sir Ermis has a new batch of Guardian books coming up..._


	5. The Match

The following morning, Jade and Danny woke up early to prepare for their exhibition for the Opening Ceremony. Or more to the point, the bender of the two woke up on schedule and smacked the Whisperer awake.

"I don't think I ordered a rude wake up call, man."

"It's the only wake up call effective to you, apparently."

When they stepped out to Zee and Kaede's stables, they found Ray had already placed the ceremonial bands on Zee. Jade and Danny shared a look before turning to their fire bender friend.

"So, uh," Jade rubbed the back of his head. "How's Phoebe?"

Ray gave him a firm look, "Let's not talk about it." He said sternly, sending shivers down Danny's spine. "Got it?"

"G-got it." Danny swallowed thickly.

Jade raised a brow, not feeling the intimidation Danny still sometimes get from their friend. "Uh, bud, you do know they're going to present us as recruits later, right?"

"They'll what?!"

~●~

Phoebe headed over to Cobalt lake with her sister and Crystne early that morning to watch them prepare for their match. Admittedly though, Paige was more battle ready than the Whisperer.

Crystne was wearing her usuals, a casual loose shirt with the sleeves rolled up, thin straps around her neck attached to the open lace collar of the shirt. Her pants were fit, the lower part hidden by soft, thigh high boots with side stitches.

While on the other hand, Paige wore a blue, ribbed, tank shirt. Shoulder holsters present on both arms which had blunt-edged daggers, arm guards over fingerless gloves. She wore her work pants, tucked in thigh high boots, zipped from the inside, with shin guards protecting them. On her waist, she had an ammo pouch usually for bullets, but right now it contained a distinct type of stone.

"Tell me again how this duel works," Phoebe said, frowning. "I thought you two were supposed to tag duel, like Dan and Jade had last year? But... Crystne, you seem a little under dressed for today."

Crystne shook her head, tossing strawberries to Nei. "No, I'm plenty warm. But thanks, if I get too cold, I brought a scarf."

"Er, I'm glad to hear you're prepared to _combat_ the weather... but what I meant was..."

Paige interrupted, "It's fine, the competitors get to decide what type of duel we'll be engage in. Last year, the boys chose Offense-on-Offense, so Danny and Jade, along with their opponents, fought and raced at the same time." She paused. "Well, maybe not at the same time, but pretty close. The one running the first lap only runs, but they can be interrupted by the first fighters. So Jade's goal was supposed to either disrupt the other runner, or keep the opponent fighter off Dane. Since Jade ate too much, Noah almost won the race remember?"

"Yeah, since Danny had to avoid getting hit and run, or in his case, fly fast, at the same time." Phoebe sighed, shaking her head. "So, how's yours and Crystne's any different?"

Paige continued, "Well, if you remembered, when Danny reached the end of his lap, they switched places, Jade rode Zee and continued the second lap, while Danny defended his run. I chose the Offense-Support, Water duel. You can choose a forte elemental type duel if both benders have the same Elemental adept." She shrugged, "I admit, since I'm only a partial water bender, it gives Drew an edge. But don't count me out yet, I won't be beaten easily."

Phoebe chuckled, "I never doubted you for a second, best Female bender in town." She quipped. "So how does your duel work with her?"

"Since both Whisperers have flight-type pets, the pets will be stationed right above Cobalt lake. Using the water, we're supposed to make a path that our partner can use to swim up to that level where they are. I think the height is even taller than our watch tower." She made levels with her hands, the one on her chest level presenting the tower, and the higher one above her head is the key point of the duel. "Anyway, we're supposed to get our partner high enough to grab the flag from the Whisperer opponent's pet."

"Wow, sounds like a real hurdle." Phoebe mused.

Paige nodded. "Yeah, so, the first bender who gets their Whisperer to the Key point wins the Bender duel, but the first Whisperer to convince the Opponent's pet to give up the flag, or steals it from them, wins the entire race." She said.

"And that's going to be me, darling. So you might as well throw the towel, you poor excuse of a bender."

The Gaea sisters looked ahead, finding Drew Arqua and her whisperer partner, Layla Norman with her pet rainbow falcon, Ladi. In all honesty, Layla was a sweet girl and Paige didn't have a problem with her, individually. It's not her fault, after all, that Drew was her childhood friend. The Water bender was annoying, but she was a good friend to Layla if that counted for something. She did have a bit of a brother complex, though, and for some reasons, didn't like Paige being friends with her brother any more than she likes Phoebe being Ray's closest female friend.

"Uh... You were the one who kept pestering me for a match... Now you want me to back off before it even starts? Make up your mind." Paige narrowed her eyes, "I mean, it would be Ray and Jonnel signing up this year instead of me and Crystne as representatives for the West Side of the village if you hadn't insisted so much. And last I check, this _sorry excuse of a bender_ is still currently the best female bender in town."

Drew growled, "Not for long, so you should stop flaunting it."

"Not that Paige flaunts it at all," Phoebe muttered it at all, "you're the one going on about how you're gonna take the title from her."

Drew scoffed, flipping her hair dramatically. "No one ask you, psychic."

"Was that supposed to be an insult?" Phoebe raised a brow. "that's my niche."

"Just you wait, Gaeas, I will be made best Female bender. And once Ray and I will be training the Fresh from Rites benders, you won't be his favorite girl any longer, Phoebe!"

Phoebe's cheeks got warm, "I-I'm his favorite girl?"

"Sis, where have you been hiding all these years?" Paige sighed, not knowing whether to be more annoyed with her sister being oblivious or Drew's trash talk. "And Arqua, save it for the crowd, all right?"

Noah joined in the gathering, "Drew, come on, lighten up. This is supposed to be a friendly match." he pointed out. "Show a more sportsmanship behavior." he reprimanded before turning towards Paige. "Do your best out there." He smiled.

Paige grinned, giving him a thumbs up. "You know it, Noe."

"Hey! I'm your sister!" Drew protested loudly. "And don't fraternize with the enemy!"

Noah ruffled his sister's hair, "She was actually a friend first before you even met her and dub her an enemy?" he teased playfully. "Try not to get too hurt, all right brat?"

"Noooooah!"

The Arqua siblings bickered, walking off. Layla went over to Paige, "Sorry about Drew, Paige. You know how she is." she bowed slightly.

"Par for the course," Paige waved a dismissive hand, "Benders have a certain pride to them, that's about the only thing that matches her with Ray. Anyway, good luck and may the best team win, Village titles aside."

Layla smiled, nodding.

"LAYLA! DON'T PLAY NICE WITH THE ENEMY TOO!"

Layla rushed back to her bender partner. "Sorry, Drew!"

"Got your work cut out for you, Layla..."

Phoebe frowned. "Do you really think Drew and Ray makes a good match?"

"Wha—Seriously Fee? Oh my Celestia, you drive me crazy!" Paige sighed deeply. "I'm so tired all of the sudden," Crystne and Nei patted her head comfortingly. "Thanks guys..."

~●~

Once the whole village was gathered in the arena, save for those selected families managing booths in different areas. The arena was just made out of sturdy wood covered in long, colorful tarps and curtains for the festival, and there were no gates so when there were no ongoing festivals, the woodland creatures are free to access the lake for water.

Kinoh and John take the podium once Danny and Jade finished their exhibition number. As Public relations officer of the Academy's Student council, Kinoh assured them that the Academy with help fund the rebuilding of any field or storage houses damaged by the wolf raid and would help with their supply of staple goods. He also promised that he would address the need for fencing at their woods in the case of the non-tamable bear that dwells in the deeper part of the woods, before giving the mic to John, the Academy's Student Council Secretary to give the Opening remarks.

"The Academy would like to thank you for the support you've given these passed few years," John started. "we know that you are not a big town, and yet, you've shipped off portions of your crops with a discounted price to help feed the faculty, staff, and cadets of Prodigy Zeals Academy, and this fact does not go unacknowledged. Rest assured, just as Cadet Kinoh had mentioned, we will return that support you've shown us. I believe it will take the strength of the Academy, combined with the strength of the people, to end this war. My father once told me, a country is just another piece of land before people occupy it. Salen would not be the proud country it is today without you, the good people. I promise, with all that the Academy stands for; we will end this war." The whole town made a cry of approval, crying out the Academy's creed;

" _Victory through Perseverance, Peace through Unity! Victory through Perseverance, Peace through Unity!_ "

John nodded, raising his hands to silence the crowd once more, "That is why, by receiving three new recruits from Luft Blume, we could be a step closer to that goal, may I recognize our new recruits; Danny Gallé, Jade Lunne, and Raymond Brooke!"

The crowd went ballistic, cheering for the boys they've known growing up in the village and becoming the regular town watchmen they see almost everyday, when they weren't off duty and hanging out with their friends. Jonnel cheering for his brother the loudest, although he will later deny that he cheered at all. Jade presented himself, with Zee by himself, grinning and waving enthusiastically with both arms up. Danny just stood by his side, giving a modest wave. But his attention was elsewhere, or more precisely, he was side eyeing Ray and trying not to get caught doing so.

It worked out, because Ray was too busy standing stiffly to the side, looking forward with unseeing eyes, trying his best not to scan the crowd for the own person's reaction he really didn't want to see.

~●~

Paige huffed irritably as she paced in her entrance-exit dugout side of the arena, waiting for them to call in the competitors for the day. To blow some steam off, Paige practice basic jab combos, although she might not be able to use them while mid-air without her feet firmly placed on the ground. Crystne was talking to Nei, explaining to her what she was going to have to do later while her best friend was ranting about how she was going to kill a certain, best male bender in town fire bender later so that she could be the only best bender in time, adding to that it's for the name of payback too.

Crystne, by all accounts, could have been worried about that. But she's not the most carefree girl in their group of friends for nothing. Her mom taught her that things may not always go according to what you want, and that it's okay. She would just have to make it work out to the best of her abilities. If she couldn't, she waits. And Crystne knew this. She knew the friend-enemy feelings Paige and Ray had for each other. And that at times, it was because of Phoebe. But based on previous experiences, she knew it would work out eventually.

She just had to wait.

"Excuse me, I—" In the middle of a finishing move in her combo, Paige barely stopped in time and almost kicked the newcomer at the side of his cheek. As it was, her boot was five inches away from his face and she lost balance and fell backwards. "Oops. I apologize for that, I didn't mean to—"

Paige held a hand up, "No, fine, my fault—" she paused, reconsidering her words. "Okay, no, I guess it's really your fault, Captain Conner. But to be polite, I call my fault."

"Thank you for your, uh, consideration." The blond smirked. "I apologize for—"

Paige waved him off, "Just say ' _sorry_ ' Captain. ' _I apologize_ ' sounds stuffy, and I'm not a person of position."

"Well, if you say so." The blond chuckled. "Anyway, sorry if I got in the way of your training."

Paige shrugged and now Crystne and Nei stood beside her, "Not so much training as blowing off steam, really. Anyway, Captain, what brings you here?"

"My friend and I just thought we'd wish the competitors good tidings for the competition."

Paige nodded, "Well, thanks. And if it's not too much trouble, please send off my congratulations to Raymond Brooke on his recruitment." she said.

"He's a friend." Crystne supplied.

John nodded, "Sure but seeing as he's your friend, I guess it would better if you congratulated him personally."

"Except I'd be trying to kill him personally, so at least someone can congratulate him for me before then," Paige said non-nonchalantly before a trumpet blared and a gong sounded and their names were called. "That's our cue, good tidings to you too, Captain." she walked off to the exit.

John blinked, staring after her and thinking back to her words. Crystne merely said, "She has mixed feelings with his recruitment, sir." before following Paige out.

John shrugged it off and headed out and returning to his special box where he and Kinoh would be watching the match, finding Kinoh fixing his disheveled robe and unusually unkempt hair.

"What happened to you?"

Kinoh narrowed his eyes at his friend, "The competitors these year are all girls, this village is packed with hardcore fans of the Academy, what do you think happened?"

"Ah, I see."

"Don't laugh. And why aren't you just as messed up?"

"Well, I'd like to say I had the same encounter, but the representatives of the West Side didn't so much as squeal, one of them even gave me a lecture on being stuffy."

Kinoh huffed, combing his hair back to look as decent as it can without the aid of a comb. "Well, good for you." he leaned back, "though to her credit, the bender of the East Side seems formidable enough. Maybe not against a long term Zeal cadet of the Academy, but she might be with more training. If we were the types to place bets I think Drew Arqua could win this thing."

"Hey, we just got some capable recruits from this village." John points out, "don't sound like you want to get another."

Kinoh rubs the back of his head, "Yeah, sorry. The meeting is still on my mind and the fact that we need more new and capable cadets is at the back of my mind."

"Well, let's hope the others recruiters doing their inspection assignments find a couple of their own too."

The timer started for the bender to start preparations. Nei and Ladi flew up to the desired key point and hovered, flags attached to a line tied around their leg while both Drew and Paige brought themselves up, using the water to bring them higher. Drew got up first to the starting checkpoint and stabilized the current as she practically stood on water without moving and getting off balance. Paige did her one better, though. She concentrated, her fingertips flickered and then her entire water tower turned into an ice tower. It wasn't uncommon for water benders to be able to turn water into Ice, since Ice is a form of water as well. But since manipulating the hydrogen and oxygen elements in the air was fairly difficult, only advanced water benders could do it. Drew scowled and did the same thing, much faster than Paige had but she was chagrined that she didn't come up with it first.

"Yeah, sure," John shrugged, seeing both pairs making ready and waiting for the match to start officially, finding the girl he met earlier doing some final stretches. He placed a hand on his cheek, where the girl nearly got him. "I wouldn't sell the West bender short, though."

Kinoh looked over at his friend and caught his expression, "Does someone have a crush?"

"Shut up, man." John scowled, flushing. "I barely know her."

Before Kinoh could make a comment to that, the whistle was blown and the match begun.

Immediately, Paige and Drew both brought up another water surge. Crystne and Layla started swimming up. Water bender life guards were stationed at the edge of the lake just in case. When Crystne was starting to swim passed Layla, Drew held her hand towards Paige and water pulsed towards her. Paige just jumped high to avoid getting hit but Drew saw that coming so she was ready to intercept her anyway. Paige got knocked off her ice tower and Crystne's water pulse started to falter. Paige stretched her arm towards the ice tower and pulled it back, summoning a ledge from it. Regaining her bearings on the ledge, she stabilized the water tower Crystne's was swimming on. Unfazed, the whisperer just kept swimming once more.

"Yeah! That's it Paige, show her who's boss!" Jade hollered from the West Side bleachers.

Danny narrowed his eyes. "How much did you bet on this time?"

"Ten pieces of silver and a piece of gold."

"You don't even have FIVE pieces of bronze."

"Yeah, but you do."

"I don't gamble."

"You're my friend, though."

"Damn it," Danny turned towards the match, "PAIGE, go get her!"

Paige huffed, blow her fringe of her eyes. She can her the familiar voices of her friends, but couldn't really understand what they were screaming for. They were even louder than the commentators of the match. If she had to guess, though, she figured Jade made another reckless gamble. She turned towards the Drew and aimed a water pulse towards Layla's water tower. Drew summoned an Ice shield from her tower to block it and reflect it back. Paige froze it before it got to hit her but Drew used it as a bridge to and tried a low kick. Paige crossed her arms together and blocked it from hitting her square on the chest but she got pushed back in the process. Layla made a sound and, without looking away, Drew rose her arm and Layla's water path continued to ascend.

"Paige," Crystne called out, "I need more water to swim at over here."

Paige grunted, recovering enough to push the path up higher with a flip of hand. From the corner of her eye, she saw another water pulse heading towards her and raised an ice shield to block it but it kept coming so she had to push her back against the ice block to keep from getting her, water from it spraying down.

"Paige, it's not climbing high any faster than Layla's. She's already talking to Nei."

Paige yelled back, "Do that whistling thing Nei likes to get her attention away from Layla then."

She braced herself against the ice block, one hand on it and the other to the ice tower's floor. She rolled out of hiding and immediately froze the water pulse, freezing Drew's hands in the process. She knew Drew would just unfreeze it but she just needed enough time to get Crystne up to par with Layla. Since Ladi was distracted watching her master talk to Nei, Crystne may be able to sneak up behind the rainbow falcon. She was about to reach it too when something caught her eyes and she gasped.

"PAIGE! LOOK! "

"Huh?" Paige followed the direction her friend was pointing at and nearly faltered in keeping her friend up. "Crystne? I'm gonna need to put you down. Brace yourself!"

"Got it."

Drew just got her hands free when she sees Paige grabbing Crystne's hand and brought her back to shore, dropping her when the ground was close enough before riding the water outside of the arena.

"What, giving up already Gaea?!"

"No!" Crystne yelled, shaking her head frantically. "The NT bear... It's attacking the stalls outside!"

~●~

There were already the initial interception to the bear's rampage. But what they were mostly doing is distracting it long enough to evacuate the festival goers and stall vendors. They knew about this bear for years, they knew even their present best Whisperer, Jonnel, couldn't handle a non-tamable bear more especially during a rampage. The best they can hope for is that they get everyone out of the forest or inside the fortified arena.

Paige bit her lip as she flew overhead, considering her options. Sometimes, when talks of the rampage bear came up, her mind would wander and think of ways to fix it just for the heck of it. But she had one idea that she thought would work, problem being it was shot down by the town's council leaders. She was second guessing it now herself, since it felt like some kind of pop quiz if she did it now.

But she read enough about NT beasts, and she knew that they don't go away unless their taste for destruction was sated.

"This is not how I thought the announcement of our recruitment would go." Jade huffed, carrying two kids on either side of his arms with one hanging off his back.

Danny took the one in the back and lifted him up to Zee. "Yeah? Mourn how you wanted it to go later, we've got more pressing concerns now."

"At least most of the population was watching the match, or we'd have more people to help evacuate." Ray grunts as he tries to scare off the other wild animals rattled by the presence of the bear away and into a different forest path. They couldn't afford them getting killed, messing up with the ecosystem of the forest plus causing the hunters their livelihood. "what are we going to do about the..."

"Incoming!"

Suddenly, small blasts of fire was shot around the area of the bear. First, they only seemed like warning shots, being intentionally aimed at the area where the bear stood, blasting off near it's hind legs, and behind it, shots fired in circle formation. Till one shot finally got it on its head. Of course, it didn't do any proper damage and only served to irate the bear, since there was someone actually attacking it head on while the others were mostly trying to vacate the area.

"That's it, come and get me!"

Ray growled, almost as irritated as the bear if not more. "WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING?!"

"I don't know, but only an idiot would take an NT head on." Jonnel frowns, "she's not even a Whisperer! What the Nedda..."

Fortunately, however, the bear stopped its initial wild rampage and its attention focused on Paige. It braced itself on its legs and jumped high enough to reach her. She yelped, flying out of reach just in time.

_Damn, forgot that they can jump that high... Oh well, got its attention. Phase two._


End file.
